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Situated in the ‘heart’ of Park Ave, Rochester NY, at the corner of Berkely and Park, sits a new gastro pub. Blu Wolf Bistro opened up just a few days ago and replaced the ever popular (not in my eyes) Colie’s Cafe.

No new owners involved, just an entirely new theme to the location. Instead of Colie’s fresh, farm raised ingredients and nutrient-rich smoothies, Blu offers a variety of rich, fried, greasy and filling dishes. There’s 36 beers on tap, and several dessert milkshakes, like Maple Bacon, for drink choices.

It’s definitely a little tricky to eat well here as most dishes are heavily fried, or as our booth neighbor said, “way too greasy.” But the place offers a different feel to the yuppie, Park Ave area, with it’s modern trendiness and late-night hours.

I couldn’t wait to try this place, and am glad my boyfriend and I got a chance to go while he was home for Thanksgiving. The restaurant was still working out many kinks (what did I expect after only being open for 3 days?), but that didn’t take too much away from our experience.

On a Friday night at 7 p.m. we were able to walk right in and sit down. Uncomfortably close to two couples on either side of us sharing booth space, but we got used to it and even chatted a few times with our neighbors.

While we perused the menu a group of servers stopped by the table kiddie-corner to us and started cheering on the patron’s eating. Ah, yes, I forgot — they have a food challenge. The Blu Wolf Burger challenge costs $35 and consists of 4 half pound patties (2lbs), homemade meat hot sauce, provolone-cheddar cheese sauce, curly leaf lettuce, tomato, onion, a Mac Daddy Patty, and crisp bacon weave, served with 1 lb Bent Arm Fries and a milkshake.

Quite the challenge, and if you win you get bragging rights (duh), a tee-shirt, free burger, Social Media recognition, and proceeds from your challenge purchases goes to a local children’s charity. The donation is regardless of whether or not you win, by the way.

What did we get?

We started off with the Buffalo fried Calamari. It was very good, crispy and fried the perfect amount. We realized, however, due the large portions of the entrees an appetizer was definitely NOT needed.

I ordered the Friday Fish Fry. I could not believe how humongous it was, and with such a reasonable $12 pricetag. The ‘Bent Arm’ fries were amazing, and despite how it looked, the Fish Fry was actually really meaty and not too fried. It made great leftovers the next day because I barely touched it the night of!

Look at the fork for sizing purposes. Our booth neighbors couldn’t get over the size of it and even snapped their own picture – haha.

Since they were out of coleslaw, our server offered me a variety of other choices including a brussel sprout and bacon salad, mac n’ cheese and vegetable of the day. I chose the mac n’ cheese and saved it for leftovers the next day to eat. It was good, a bit drier than I like.

Dave got the Park Ave Burger and said it was very good, and he’s a little picky burger-wise.

I definitely recommend giving this plac a try. It’s reasonably priced for the large portions, and offers a differnt vibe to the neighborhood. I’m definitely going back!

Food 5/5
Price 4/5
Experience 3/5 (I know this will go up once they work out the kinks)

I spend a lot of time on Instagram exploring the healthy, fit lifestyle of other instagrammers. The other day I saw a post of a Starbucks beverage hashtagged #hansonmilktea. After poking around I found a Fit instagrammer by the name of Hanson Nguyen who put a twist on an already ‘secret’ beverage at Starbucks called the Black Widow (Iced, 1/2 coffee, 1/2 iced tea).

His drink got dubbed Hanson Milk Tea because it tastes similar to Jasimine Milk Tea, an asian drink usually falling under the category ‘Bubble tea’ because of the tapioca balls in the bottom. It’s gotten pretty popular in only a few days!

So, since I’m always game for a new coffee-related beverage I gave it a try!

Everyone on Instagram was talking about how difficult it was to explain the directions to a Starbucks barista, but mine got it right the first time!

Hanson Milk Tea recipe from @hansonnguyen

I got mine with only 4 Splenda, because 7 seems way too sweet for me. You can also substitute a natural sweetener, like Stevia or Truvia — I didn’t have any on hand so Splenda it was.

The drink is also low calorie, and low carb, but provides a great pick-me-up. About 50 cal with 0g Protein, 0g Carb, 2-5g Fat.

Anyway, I really, REALLY liked it. I don’t normally get drinks with half n half, so it was sweet, and creamy — something I’m not used to!

I’ll be ordering this drink again and again. Plus, it’s cheap (if your barista only rings it in as an iced tea) at about $2.50 a cup. Who knew I could find such a healthy steal on Instagram!

Today I met my family at our family friends’ annual Cider Making party. This is one of the best parties of the years. It’s held on their farmland, in their barn. Everyone brings an empty jug to fill up with cider, that’s made throughout the party, and take home. So delicious.

There’s also a ton of food and treats. The hostess is a wonderful baker so I love eating her baked goods! This party really encompasses all things Fall and holiday-related and I absolutely love it.

Ok, I think my gym is pretty great. I’ve been going there my whole life (literally). I started out in the nursery while my parents worked out and I’ve grown into working out there myself. It’s great because I know a lot of the people who have also been around there for a long time, and it’s always a very welcoming and friendly place.

I love my gym so much that last night I went to a party there. What? Yup, I partied at my gym.

The gym held their 35th anniversary party and I met my family and family friends there. The party was definitely a party; complete with a bar, food, band, dancing and raffles. I have to admit, it was a bit odd seeing everyone all ‘dressed up,’ but that kind of made it all the better.

Not ashamed to admit I was there until 11:30 on a Saturday night. And no, I did not get any sets in — haha.

I really love quinoa. I think it has a better texture and flavor than bland rice, and it’s definitely more filling. I eat it a lot, usually in stuffed peppers, but I also like it as a cold salad.

The other day I made this flavorful, and colorful, quinoa salad. I ate it a few times for lunch this week.
-1 cup quinoa
-chopped pepper
-chopped green onion
-drizzle with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper

All mashed up and some kind of wondeful.

I had a very hectic work week, so here’s a couple of other random dinner meals throughout the week.
-1/2 cup egg whites
-sweet potato, drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper. Baked in oven at 400˚for about 30 minutes

I can never get sweet potatoes crispy. Do you have a recipe that works?

My go-to, salmon and sauteed peppers and onion.
-1 frozen salmon fillet. Thaw in a bowl of water for about 30 minutes. Pan sear in olive oil on stove top for about 5 minutes.
-1 chopped pepper, chopped onion sauteed in oil in skillet

Mondays aren’t exactly the best day of the week. On top of it being a Monday, I went into work super early to get a good head start on the day and week. I was beat mid-day and I was happy I packed my leftover Starbucks Iced Skinny Peppermint Mocha (don’t worry, I kept it in the fridge so it was still good).

What are some things you do to make your Monday better?

Cucumber, fresh mozzarella and Italian Dressing (light) salad

Stuffed pepper with quinoa, black beans and some shredded Taco cheese

It is also really windy today (like 50 mph), and if you know me, which you don’t YET, you’ll know that I absolutely hate wind. Instead of doing my normal routine of work, gym, home, I skipped the gym and rented The Heat with Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock.

I’ve been craving pizza all weekend but didn’t end up getting any. Tonight, my craving still persists, so I decided to put together a pizza on one of my protein P28 flatbreads.

Preheat oven to 425

I started with an oil and garlic base for the pizza. I really like white pizza so this was perfect.

Chopped a pepper then sauteed with some Kale in olive oil.

Spread the sauteed Kale and peppers on flatbread with olive oil/garlic base.

Fresh Mozzarella!

Baked for about 8 minutes. It was pretty crispy, just the way I like my pizza.

The pizza was good and satisfied my craving. It was definitely different and I attribute that to the P28 flatbread. As I mentioned in a previous post , the flatbread is a little sweet due to raisin juice and cinnamon. It tasted Okay with the pizza I made, but definitely quite the taste bud combination. You could use any type of flatbread or possibly a tortilla for the pizza.